Introducing Shannon Dingle: Our New Community Engagement Associate!
Shannon with her daughter Zoe. Shannon is a white woman with blonde hair wearing a green tunic. Zoe is Asian with black hair. She wears eyeglasses and a yellow t-shirt with a graphic of Ruth Bader Ginsberg on it. Zoe is seated in her wheelchair. She and Shannon are holding each other’s arms.
Hi y’all! I’m Shannon Dingle. My family lives near the heart of Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina. I’ve spent my entire life in the southern U.S., including Florida and Texas. I’m a single widowed mom of six: Jocie, Patience, Philip, Rob, Joy, and Zoe.
In my role as Community Engagement Associate, I’m here for you. I will create spaces of belonging and connection for families of children with medically complex needs and disabilities, so that we can create a better and more inclusive world for our children to grow and thrive. I will center our children as advocates as much as possible. I will maximize our advocacy efforts. And I will help us keep our focus on health care, education, and community inclusion for all kids.
Early in my career, I was a special education teacher from pre-K to high school, loving each age for different reasons. After earning my M.A.Ed. with specialties in learning disabilities, autism, and socioeconomic inequity, I trained special educators and managed nationwide assessments for Teach For America. This background helped me personally as well, as all six of my kids have Individualized Education Plans (IEP) in public schools. I’ve also consulted with faith leaders to include people with disabilities in their communities, founded a pop-culture magazine exploring the intersections of religion and queerness, fundraised for dozens of non-profits nationally and globally, and written a memoir about grief and courage.
At the first school at which I taught, I went from caring about disability casually to being a committed advocate. After one year of teaching writing in special education, the principal said, “You’re such a great teacher, so we want to have you in a class of students who deserve you.” He was asking me to teach students without disabilities, deeming them more worthy of an excellent education than the students I served in special education. I refused to change my teaching placement, and I determined that day that I would do all I could to make sure our children were treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Shannon with two dogs, one cat, and six teenage children in matching Christmas pajamas; from left to right, Shannon, a white woman holding a dog with white with black markings; Joy, 13, who is Black with curly braids; Jocie, 17 who is white with blond layered hair holding a tabby cat; Rob, 15 who is also white and has curly brown hair with a beard; Zoe, 13, who is Asian and has bangs and a blue wrist brace; Philip, 15, who is Black and wearing a Black du-rag; and Patience, 17, who is Black with her hair pulled back; and Simon, the yellow lab service dog to Zoe, is on the laps of the last three children.
In addition to being a disability professional and parent of disabled kids, I’m a disabled woman myself. I live with physical disabilities from childhood injuries, as well as several chronic medical conditions. I’m autistic, and I live with ADHD and PTSD. I grew up with an IEP for speech-language services because my verbal articulation and pronunciation skills made my spoken language unclear throughout elementary school and into middle school.
Zoe is my Little Lobbyists you’ll see most of the time. She loves blue and pink and thinks Play-doh is amazing. She also has cerebral palsy, using a power wheelchair full-time, accompanied by her service dog Simon. Zoe was born in Taiwan, where the nature of her disabilities meant she would grow up in an institution. Through adoption, her story has had a different ending, as our resources combined with Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) allow her to be supported at home with the rest of us.
You can reach out to me to chat about:
working together to advocate for medically complex kids;
celebrating or lamenting the outcome of your child’s latest IEP meeting;
creating hopeful communities that change children’s lives.
I’m excited to work for Little Lobbyists because we’re all better together!
Shannon Dingle is the Community Engagement Associate for Little Lobbyists.